Tag: Cnidaria
-
131/150: What has a lion’s mane and lives under the sea? A jellyfish!
Animalia: Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Semaeostomeae: Cyaneidae: Cyanea: Cyanea capillata (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lion’s Mane jellyfish is the largest species of jellyfish in the world. The largest specimen was found in 1870 at Massachusetts Bay, United States with a bell diameter of 2.3 meters and tentacles reaching 37 meters, which is longer than the length of a…
-
105/150: Sea pens – not your typical corals
Animalia: Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Pennatulacea: Pennatulidae: Pennatula: Pennatula aculeata (Danielssen, 1860) Sea pens are colonial marine cnidarians found worldwide and normally at depths greater than 10 meters. Sea pens prefer deeper waters because they can avoid uprooting due to water turbulence. They live most of their lives in a sessile (immobile) state, however they can relocate…
-
30/150: Hail Hydra! The immortal cnidarian
animalia: Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Anthoathecata: Hydridae: Hydra: Hydra canadensis (Rowan, 1930) From Marvel movies to Greek mythology, ‘Hydra’ is a familiar word referring to a many headed monster that can regenerate heads for every one cut off. It sounds far-fetched, but in fact, is exactly what the freshwater cnidarian can do. Hydra is a genus containing…